I told someone in an email that I write or post on things that I am interested in like my hobby (Amateur Radio), travel, daily life, investing learning, and “What pisses me off”. In my reading to day I came across this paragraph in an article from “The Reformed Broker Blog”. This paragraph stood out because I do travel a lot, and I have a hobby of watching people where every I am. I do not have an IPod but do have an android pad, an android phone and each can play me music of my choice or play games on etc.… but I do find it fascinating to sometimes just set and watch. If you do this enough you will see some of the strangest things (at least to you they are strange due to your own little box of awareness). To that paragraph:
“The next time you travel by air, take a look at the airport corridor. I’ve noticed increasingly that everyone seems to be tuned into listen to their iPod/iPad/iPhone. They don’t engage in civil discourse, even to pass the time, as they don’t have to–they can listen to exactly what they want to listen too. Given that we can watch whomever we want on TV/cable–and most people want to watch things that validate their own way of thinking–there’s no longer any need for exposure to a viewpoint other than what one already believes. That’s not a formula for compromise, and the result is the mess we have in the US, where we’re fast becoming ungovernable. (Call this the iPod-iPhone phenomenon.) I have to wonder if the same thing is happening in the EU, perhaps even more so because of the striking regional/cultural differences present, which surpass our own by quite a bit.”
I too have noticed this non social existence. So many people today are focused on their own little sphere. We do not “engage” with others. In fact, even when we do “engage” with other people it is generally with people of like mind, so we do not have to disagree. I associate that characteristic to the “ME NOW” attitude we have come to accept. With the advent and proliferation of TV – telling us what to think and believe, Sat radio allowing us to focus on “our own” music, and the Internet now making it possible for us to focus on what we “think we want”, we have become a horrible mass of single minded souls that just can not get to an agreement – case in point our own political leaders. So far in the past 12 years, maybe more, I do not think they actually have come to an agreement on anything. They have put out legislation on what appeared to be agreements, but in actuality, were facial agreement, where each politician of influence got something special out of the legislation that would help them get re-elected. It was not good for the general public in any place but where they were and it meant votes and nothing else to them. Once it was out we all come to realize what a mess it is causing but we can’t even get agreement to fix it.
WD0AJG